Sprag brake for automobiles



Sept? 1947- A. A. SIMCICH srme BRAKE FOR AUTOMOBILES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jar}. 4, 1946 AAAAAAAAAAAAAA Sept. 16, 1947. A. A. SIMCICH SPRAGBRAKE FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Jan. 4, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept.16, 1947 iT-Eo PATENT OFFICE 2,427,424 I siiiie *ERAKE Fort Abidiudmih'sAlffed Kfsinioibh, L'on g islaiii i'f'yi N. Y. Application January 4, 1916; sesame. '63:),691)

I I k' e'iiim's.

' The present invention is diretitedftoabessories for automobiles, morepartie 1a y to a device i t It has become 'quiteroommon at 'the presenttime where it isjdesir'ed to jackup a'car in order to 'eha'nge tires, orfor someothefr urp e; to place the jack under the bumper, jeither"frorftor rear, and "raise the bumper whereby theflentire'har is raised and thewheel is lifted from the ground. Because of 'therelative'ly izreagt eihtto which gear is raised by such; an arr'airigerfient, there is gravedanger that"th'efear Willfs'lip Irom he. q Th s 'a ef atq b h Wei h of ear which sh e e ii'elyi reet slags movement thereof may ,lstart th'e carrolling even though h 'a e ai' 17. %v v re-h e. be gzsbm devic i 'p revu fi n wh n e t ieve h enim ed ipr vent accidental inovemen't of a veh cof theni have been adapted for-or -ar preventing a car from slipping fII I instance; it has-been propose to provide-pn the rearaxle of a car adevioewhihh pivoted thefeto and'is adapted under-rtain "bhditionsjto belbvvred st that it toutjhes' t e ,g'ikoii'iiq and, thus act as'anauxiliary'brake to preve' skidding. Such a device was name-tamer holding a'h'ar so as to prevent the slipping'theiof error a jackwhile'the oaiis'stat'inary, I I I A i'iothei' 'de'v'iee oonsijs' f a'pivoted mrig'ue for dog adaptedto beattachd to'the timer side of av'hicle and having 'at its'lbvve'ro'r freeend teeth for gripping the"ground. Such a device was intended to beattached itoth rear of a wagonof-the like o thatin goingi p a stee rade, the devicewould drag thingthe ij iind and when traction wasremoved; the slipping bf the wagonbackward would afi'set-he teeth to engage "the ground'arid'act asabf'ake. 'I'his' device' also was not'ca'pabl' of accomplishing theresults obtained by applioants device and 'it -had many limitations;

The present invention" is intended and" adapted to overcome the defeetsin'devices previously used "omVehi'cles, it'be'ing among the objebtsthereof to provide a guard device adapted to beattache'd to thebumper-of an automobile-which will prevent the slipping of a-car from ajack, particularly a bumper jack I I It is aisqamo'ng the ohjehts of thepresent invention to; provide" a device attachable to a bum er whichwill act a g ard-for the-Ear in the normal-operation thereof.

I arn'ong' the objbtfs of the ,prfese t invent provide a device of theharficieid sciib'ee ic' s seeiir' edi to theg u nper a d i'ii''iudes "a;hinged fifiiiiber which attire; desired tfine may he released 'so'a's tocefitact with the ground. I II, II In ractieijng the present'ihveiitiomj'there is provided a ."basei'rfifiibfil' which is suitablyfattaeHe'd'Ito a bumper either fro'nt or rea L but preferably both.- Ifsired;'fnorethan oneisuch device be attiehed a eacri'io u'iiip r; At thelower end of the base is a hinge or piV'Qt Vi n' a horizontal positioncarryin a guardba'r of relat'i lizgreat length. N T'Ih'a'IIY Wheh'th eguard is in dperativg po ition means are provided for naming 'the ameagainst the base, 'Wh'erebyl it extends upwar ly a substantial distanqe"above thfbumper anaa'cisas a guard "for 'the'body d l w t Ith efar isplaced on a jack, tth'e gua'rd ,bar' is, released, and wings around,its'jhi'n'ge so thatjthe 'free end th'ereoi touhes the'ground. Thi s'rha37 1oe done Qatjboth' front and rear of the ear'vehthbugn-on yo ieend of the car is 5 'pIa'ced on afja'ck. Theleng'th oi'th guard'bar is'isiiifieient' so that at the eigtrexhe I' height to w i l'i' 'i'a 'iia'y e raised; the'free'endofjthe hair jchrita' t's w th the grounMe'a'ns are usually p vided. for i'n'suring 'that the fre'e nu ofgthebarf dig into and be firmly anchored in the grpuiiq oi' pavement, II I III n11 (he accompanying drawin fqoiistituiing' a 'tpart hereof and inwhich like reference characte s" ihdiate like parts, I I I Fig. 1 isfafrear ele "oiialview of a" safety ev c ma e n accordance with thepresent inven'tibii, showing the guard'bar'in clo's'ed or in Opra'tivfpos iieii; some parts; being 'broken away for 'leaiiies's; I I I I I II I f g 2 isasigie'felevatieiial view of th device the positionshbvvn mFig. 1, some parts'being shovv'n Iin rossI-secti'on;

ii is i wi e mg; 3 is a hori'zo tal cross setion al view thereor takenalong th'eline 3',3 of Fig. 1; II I Fig'. i is 'ar'i elevational' viev'vof the device in the position 'shbvv n in 1 lboking' up from filw and.M. Y w w t.

F g, 51 a vi w similar to Fi .;2,fshowiiig the device in the open oroperative position. I

The usual bumper l.is provided on the front andrear'of the car. 'Abase 2having a pair of lateralproj'ections or wings 3 has its rear surfacecurved as shown at d similar to thecurve on'ibum'per lfA'pair' of'to'pand bottom open- 55 ihgs 5 in base 2 above andbelow bumper I have bolts6 passing through the same and through similar openings in plate I tohold the base firmly in contact with bumper I. The top edge 8 of base 2has a slot 9 centrally thereof. The bottom is formed with a horizontalopening to accommodate a hinge pin.

A guard bar II elongated in form has sides I2 adapted to embrace thesides of base 2. It is provided at the lower end with hinge members I3complementary to member I6 and a hinge pin or bolt I4 passes through theopenings to form a horizontal hinge. A screw I5 is threaded into bar IIand in the position shown in Figs. 1 to 3 passes through slot 9 and awing nut I6 is threaded on the free end thereof to hold the bar againstthe base. An opening H in screw or bolt I5 provides means for insertinga cotter pin or the like to prevent accidental unthreading of nut IS.

The free end I8 of bar II is usually made with a series of steps asshown in Fig. 2. The extreme end I9 thereof is formed with a series ofnotches 29 to give a roughened edge. Such edge is adapted to be anchoredinto the ground or a paved surface.

In the operation of the device when in the position shown in Figs. 1 to3, the bar II is in ;a vertical position and extends a substantialdistance above the top of bumper I. Thereby it acts as a guard forbothfront and rear of the car body and prevents damage thereto by accidents.

If it is desired to jack up the car for the purpose of an under-bodyrepair or for the change of a tire or wheel, the jack is placed underthe bumper and held in position. Then nut I6 is loosened and bar I Iallowed to pivot around hinge M, as shown in Fig. 5, until edge I9touches ground 2|. If the front end of the car is being jacked up, thenthe device at the rear of the car is so manipulated and vice versa. In.order to make completely certain that the car will not roll or moveduring the repair operation, the device both in front and in the rearmay be placed in the position shown in Fig. 5. As the car is raised upby the jack, bar I I tends to slip along the ground from the angularposition shown in Fig. 5 and tends to assume a vertical position. Thelength of bar II is sufiicient so that when the car is in its uppermostposition, the bar is not quite in a vertical position. This applies tothe highest end of the car. At the opposite end thereof, the bar I iwill be at a fairly sharp angle to the horizontal and therefore will actwith great efficiency to prevent any rolling of the car.

Although the invention has been described by a single specificembodiment thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatmany changes in the details of construction may be made within thespirit of the invention. For instance, the safety device may be placedat the mid point of the bumper or may be placed adjacent to oneor bothsides thereof. The means for attaching the same to the bumper may beother than that shown. In place of the wing nut and bolt arrangement forlocking or latching the guard bar to the base other means formaintaining such a position may be used. Also, the form, shape and sizeof the several parts of the device may be varied to suit conditions,such as the shape of element 4, which may be changed to suit the bumperto which it is attached. The materials used in the construction thereofmay be any of those normally adapted for such a purpose. of theinvention may be made without departing These and other changes in thedetails from the spirit thereof and the invention is therefore to bebroadly construed and not to be limited except by the character of theclaims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, saidhinge being located below said bumper, a substantially rigid guard barhinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the free endis capable of touching the ground, and means for holding said lbaragainst said base.

2. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base at a pointbelow the level of said bumper, a guard bar hinged to said base, thelength of said bar being such that the free end is capable of touchingthe ground, and means for holding said bar against said base.

3. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, a guardbar hinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the freeend i capab'le of touching the ground, and means for holding said baragainst said base, said free end having a serrated edge to anchor saidbar into said ground.

4. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, a guardbar hinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the freeend is capable of touching the ground, and means for holding said baragainst said base, including a screw and nut arrangement on said bar andbase.

5. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, a guardbar hinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the freeend is capable of touching the ground, and means for holding said baragainst said base, the upper end of said base being slotted, a bolt insaid bar passing through said slot when said bar is in position againstsaid base, and a nut on said bolt for retaining said position.

6. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, a guardbar hinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the freeend is capale of touching the ground, said bar being channel shape incross section, said channel adapted to embrace said base, and means forholding said bar against said base.

'7. An. automobile safety device comprising a base, meansfor securingthe same to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base,

said hinge being located below said bumper, a substantially rigid guardbar hinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the freeend is capable of touching the ground, said base and bar being elongatedand the longitudinal aXes thereof being in a vertical plane, and meansfor holding said bar against said base.

8. An automobile safety device comprising a base, means for securing thesame to an automobile bumper, a horizontal hinge on said base, saidhinge being located below said bumper, a substantially rigid guard barhinged to said base, the length of said bar being such that the free endis capable of touching the ground, and means for holding said baragainst said base, said free end extending a substantial distance abovethe top of said base.

ALFRED A. SIMCICI-I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Scott July 2, 1929 Jensen Oct.13', 1931 Watkins Oct. 8, 1925 Hines Jan. 13, 1942 Hines Mar. 7, 1944Weise Nov. 7, 1939

